Advice needed re. 'new' turf - looks absolutely awful

[Snowstorm]

We got turf put at the end of our garden at the end of August and did all the right things (kept it watered, kept off it for 3 weeks until it appeared to have taken etc.). It looked fantastic ... until now ... The rest of our 'lawn' (and I use the term loosely) looks pretty rubbishy at the moment but the new stuff looks terrible - it's a bit yellowy in places, it's got bald patches and generally looks like a knackered out old field. A couple of weeks ago I put drainage holes in with a fork, just in case that was a problem but that hasn't helped. I've also kept the leaves raked off to try and help it.

If anyone knows anything about grass then I wondered whether they could advice me whether there's anything I could do to help it or whether I should just get off it and keep off it for the winter?

Many thanks in advance.

Um ... that'll be advise me, not advice me

One last bump in case there are any green-fingered members of the evening crowd (sorry, know this has got to be the most uninteresting question ever asked in the history of MN).

if you pick a piece up has it got anything underneath it that it is growing onto or is it just loose?

can you complain to the supplier? it should be settled in by now. not that i'm a grass specialist or anything

Yes, have the roots 'tied in' to the soil ? It should be difficult to rip up, not come apart in great big slices IYSWIM.

Was the soil underneath it properly prepared, and in decent condition, with a reasonable depth (ie. it's not just on an old gravelled area etc. ?

Quite possibly all you need to do is give it some autumn fertiliser (there are different mixes for autumn and summer.... use the right one !) It will probably perk up very nicely in response to feeding.

I take it so massivo trees are too close, sucking up ground water and depriving it of moisture ?

Tried a corner of it about 3-4 weeks after it had been laid and it didn't come up so therefore I presumed it had taken and that we could walk on it. I then mowed it a couple of times because it was lush green on the top but a bit yellowy at the roots and the turf/gardener man (who I'd been texting my questions to) said that the grass at the bottom needed more light and it needed cutting.

The soil underneath was in pretty good looking condition when the turf was laid and the man raked it, levelled it, removed the big roots etc., laid the turf etc. It all looked right and he's a really nice bloke, not the 'jobsworth' type.

There aren't any large trees nearby, in fact it's more likely to be a problem of excess damp rather than not enough. It's a patch of grass which is about 12 meters square at the fence end of our south facing garden. This does mean that it's quite shady in the summer but the whole garden's in shade most of the time at the moment so I presumed that wasn't an issue for the time being. The turf is also shade-friendly stuff. Putting grass there instead of slabs was a bit of a gamble but we wanted to extend the play area of our garden and I presumed that we'd be most likely to lose the grass in the Spring/Summer when the children would be playing out there with their friends, not in winter when we're not out there so much.

I'd understood that I was possibly going to have to rake out moss in future winters and possibly fling some shade-friendly grass seed on it in Spring, but that was it. It's getting paler and paler though and looking dreadful. It looks like a mud patch with a fair covering of sickly grass.

Shouldn't look like a mud patch - you may be right and it is water logging, or possibly has had too much traffic on.

I reckon the yellowing might also be a need for feeding (ie. fertiliser) as it was possibly grown on much richer soil IYSWIM, and turf anyway, can be a hungry plant (if you are keen on very green, healthy lawn etc).

hub2dee - thanks for your messages and the autumn fertiliser suggestion - I will definitely look into that. It's just a bit gutting to think of losing the new turf so soon after having it put in ... maybe I should have stuck to my guns and had the artificial grass put down!!

Nah... you'll get it into shape. I take it you haven't let it grow too long then cut it too short IYSWIM - that can stress it out and yellow it somewhat. I know it's a chore, but the best advice is little and often re: cutting.

I let it grow to about 3-4 inches as it wasn't mower-safe before that time and I've done it about twice since then. I always use the highest blade setting on the mower ... because I'm too lazy to work out how to change it

Highest setting is fine. Sounds like you've done everything right. I'd grab some fertiliser from a garden centre and do a sprinkle job ASAP !

Will do - thanks for your help!

This doesn't sound right at all - sounds more like something is actually killing it off rather than it being a bit stressed or needing a feed. It obviously was happy for a while if you had to mow it - so why the sudden downturn in health? it has been pretty wet of course, might be too soggy a corner.

Do I take it there was a patio where the grass now is? if so, was this dug out properly so there isn't a hard 'pan' of soil not far down with the nice prepared raked over stuff on top?

Fertiliser might help but December is pretty late to be fertilising - technically the grass shouldn't be growing at this time of year but mine obviously hasn't read the books and is still putting on a bit of growth. However, one cold snap and that will stop so the fertiliser won't kick in until Spring.

I think it's time to get Turf Man back to see the results of his handiwork. He will proabably blame you in some way (too much/little water/mowing wrong type of conversations etc) but you need to establish that you are Not Happy and Expect Action

Thanks for your message TC58. I'm pretty sure that he did it right as he's a really nice bloke and not a jobsworth IYKWIM. He's also been really nice when I've called over the past couple of months with various questions. I'm thinking that maybe it is too wet there. I rang Turf Man a couple of days ago and he said to leave it until it starts warming up again at the beginning of Spring and if it still looks bad then to give him a call and he'll come round and have a look and we'll take it from there.

hate to say it but I think the drainage holes you did might be the prob (or part of it) you probably disturbed the new roots. Drainage holes and aireating (sp?) with a fork are needed for older lawns that have been well trodden in and the roots compressed.

I would feed it as people have suggested and hope for the best!
Good luck!

Yup - you could be right there too DecaTheHalls. Oooh dear, so much effort for such a small patch of garden ... fingers crossed that it recovers!